EDITORIAL: Drawing the line on drones

Published: Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 10:37 AM.

It would be easy to dismiss the drone law that zipped through the Florida Legislature as just another political stunt, a solution in search of a problem. We prefer to view it as a solution to a problem that may be just around the corner.
According to The Associated Press, only three law enforcement agencies in Florida have applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the remotely controlled aircraft. They are the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“A legislative staff report said Polk County mothballed its drone earlier this year because of costs,” AP reported April 10. “A Miami-Dade police lieutenant last month said his agency hasn’t used its drones, and reports show that Orange County also hasn’t used them.”
So there’s no problem, right? Wrong. Drones are small and quiet and can carry microphones and cameras. Soon, cops will yield to the temptation to use drones to look for traffic accidents and snoop on pot growers and who knows what else.
“It’s an emerging technology,” said Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart. “There’s going to be an explosion of drones.”
And perhaps, thanks to drones, an explosion of high-flying spying on citizens.
That’s why Sen. Negron has pushed for drone-limiting legislation. Under his bill, drones could be used only to prevent imminent danger to life — as in a kidnapping — or serious property damage. Police would have to get search warrants before using drones to gather evidence. That requirement would be dropped if there’s a “credible threat” of a terrorist attack.
As we stated in a Feb. 12 editorial, a search warrant is an acceptable condition. It provides a measure of accountability.
The requirement that drones be flown only to prevent imminent danger to life or property is, unfortunately, fuzzier. If police want drones badly enough, any activity can be portrayed as an “imminent danger.”
So it’s likely that if drones are frequently used, they’ll be occasionally misused. All the more reason to get this drone law on the books.

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It would be easy to dismiss the drone law that zipped through the Florida Legislature as just another political stunt, a solution in search of a problem. We prefer to view it as a solution to a problem that may be just around the corner.
According to The Associated Press, only three law enforcement agencies in Florida have applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the remotely controlled aircraft. They are the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“A legislative staff report said Polk County mothballed its drone earlier this year because of costs,” AP reported April 10. “A Miami-Dade police lieutenant last month said his agency hasn’t used its drones, and reports show that Orange County also hasn’t used them.”
So there’s no problem, right? Wrong. Drones are small and quiet and can carry microphones and cameras. Soon, cops will yield to the temptation to use drones to look for traffic accidents and snoop on pot growers and who knows what else.
“It’s an emerging technology,” said Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart. “There’s going to be an explosion of drones.”
And perhaps, thanks to drones, an explosion of high-flying spying on citizens.
That’s why Sen. Negron has pushed for drone-limiting legislation. Under his bill, drones could be used only to prevent imminent danger to life — as in a kidnapping — or serious property damage. Police would have to get search warrants before using drones to gather evidence. That requirement would be dropped if there’s a “credible threat” of a terrorist attack.
As we stated in a Feb. 12 editorial, a search warrant is an acceptable condition. It provides a measure of accountability.
The requirement that drones be flown only to prevent imminent danger to life or property is, unfortunately, fuzzier. If police want drones badly enough, any activity can be portrayed as an “imminent danger.”
So it’s likely that if drones are frequently used, they’ll be occasionally misused. All the more reason to get this drone law on the books.